Harold Gilbert, age 12, of Nashville, Term., far his question

Where are the stars in the daytime?

The stars are always overhead, day and tight. We cannot see them during the daytime because they are out‑dazzled by the sun. The sun too is a star, but it is so close to us that it outshines all the other stars, even though many of them are bigger and brighter. Its radiant beams pour down and light up the air above our heads. The atmosphere becomes so bright that the distant stars cannot shine through it.

The earth is a ball spinning in space and the starry heavens stretch out around it in every direction. As it turns, first one side faces the sun, then another. As it orbits the sun, first one vista of the starry heavens comes into view, then another.